The JRLO 2023-2024 Round 10 for Divisions 1 and Round 8 for Division 2 will be played from 15-17 March 2024 with no Division 3 matches this weekend in Japan.
This weekend in the JRLO top-flight, first on the table will play fourth, while third meets sixth as sides continue to battle for a top-four finish and secure a place in the semifinal playoffs.
JRLO Expands For 2024-2025 Season
All of this comes as the JRLO expands for 2024-2025 with three new participants entering Division Three which will feature six teams in total next season, and Division Two will be increased to eight teams.
The restructure means this season’s Replacement Battle is impacted as the top two sides in Division Three will now receive automatic paths to Division 2, while the third-placed finisher retains the chance of promotion, facing the bottom side from Division Two in a Replacement Battle.
It was confirmed that two new clubs are from the Saitama prefecture, which is currently only home to one side but that side is the most successful in Japanese top-flight rugby – the Wild Knights. Secom Rugguts are welcomed from Sayama, while the Yakult Levins will be based in nearby Toda City.
The third new side to join JRLO next season is LeRIRO Fukuoka, hailing from Fukuoka’s Ukiha City, on the southern tip of the country’s main islands, Kyushu. Division Two side, Kyushu Electric
Power Kyuden Voltex are also based there.
Division One JRLO 2023-2024 – Round 10 Fixtures
Friday 15th March 2024
Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay won their first title last season but defending champions’ are sliding down the Division 1 championship log and now sit seven points outside of the top four.
The team has been unlucky that Welshman Liam Williams, Wallaby Bernard Foley and All Black Dane Coles have all been sidelined by injury but South African Head Coach Frans Ludeke is not the only coach to see his international signings ruled out this season.
They still will need to face Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights (currently first), along with Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath (third) and Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo (second) in the remaining league matches.
- Yokohama Canon Eagles v Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay; at Tokyo, 7pm
Saturday 16th March 2024
The once Replacement Battle-bound Black Rams beat Honda last week and play Shizuoka Blue Revs on Saturday.
The Blue Revs season seems to have been derailed since captain Kwagga Smith was injured, and even though they still have All Black/Tonga representative Charles Piutau and Maori All Black Bryn Hall in the squad, they have won just once the Springbok ended his season.
Sungoliath (3rd) host Toyota Verblitz (6th) with the visitors suffering a 42-point second-half collapse against Kobe last week and will be missing international stars Cheslin Kolbe and Sam Cane due to injury (most likely for the season). The home side continues to rely on test international All Blacks Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith as well as Brave Blossoms skipper Kazuki Himeno.
Kobelco Kobe Steelers (4th) head Coach Dave Rennie squares up against Saitama coach Robbie Deans – something they have not done since much earlier in their coaching careers in the New Zealand national provincial championship. Since then, both coaches have won each of New Zealand’s domestic competitions and Super Rugby, where they share seven titles between them (Deans 5, Rennie 2), in addition to test-level runs with the Wallabies.
Kobe suffered consecutive defeats against Toshiba, Suntory, and Kubota, with three straight wins to climb to fourth on the championship table, while Wild Knights are chasing a tenth consecutive win in this undefeated season.
- Ricoh Black Rams Tokyo v Shizuoka Blue Revs; at Tokyo, 1pm
- Toyota Verblitz v Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath; at Aichi, 2.30pm
- Kobelco Kobe Steelers v Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights; at Hyogo, 2.30pm
Sunday 17th March 2024
At the other end of the table, Hanazono Kintetsu Liners and Mie Honda Heat meet with both sides looking for a first win this campaign.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars (8th) travel to play Brave Lupus (2nd) on Sunday, having edged their rivals 23-19 at last season’s first meeting.
Brave Lupus coach Todd Blackadder will be content with the side’s loss to the log leaders last weekend as they pushed the Wild Knights in their 36-24 loss. Sagamihara coach Glen Delaney will hope they can return to the form that saw them win the return match against Brave Lupus last season.
- Hanazono Kintetsu Liners v Mie Honda Heat; at Osaka, 1pm
- Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo v Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Sagamihara Dynaboars; at Tokyo, 2.30pm
Brief highlights of all JRLO matches will be available here.
All times shown are Japan local time.
Division 2 JRLO 2023-2024 – Round 8 Fixtures
Although the JRLO Division Two title won’t be decided when Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles Aichi hosts Urayasu D-Rocks on Sunday, the winner will take a major step towards the silverware as the pair complete the third from the last round this season. The Shuttles lie only two points behind D-Rocks on the log.
The visitors secured a slight 10-7 win in their first meeting (which was cut short by a lightning strike that struck early in the second half and play had to be abandoned due to safety concerns.)
Head Coach Wayne Pivac’s NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu side is still to to play both sides in the three matches that remain for them this season, so could have a part to play. They are only one point adrift of second-placed Shuttles and play bottom-placed Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves on Sunday.
At the end of the season, the top three in Division 2 will determine their playing order for the upcoming two-legged winner-take-all-all Replacement Battle against Division One’s bottom three sides.
Sunday 17th March 2024
- Nippon Steel Kamaishi Seawaves v Green Rockers Tokatsu, 12pm
- Toyota Industries Corporation Shuttles Aichi v Urayasu D-Rocks; at Aichi, 2.30pm
Division 3 JRLO 2023-2024
There are no games in Division Three this weekend.
How To Watch JRLO
Matches from the JRLO can be seen in Africa on ESPN Africa, as well as in New Zealand via TVNZ, and in some regions on World Rugby’s global rugbypass.com website.
At the start of 2024, the Japan Rugby League One also announced to fans in Asia that they will be able to watch on Malaysian TV streaming provider, Astro, with matches on Astro SuperSport channel!
The full fixture list for this JRLO season can be seen here.
JRLO 2023-2024
- JRLO 2023-2024 Round 9 Preview.
- JRLO 2023-2024 Round 8 Preview.
- NTT JRLO Season 2023-2024 – Who Is Involved?
- Rugby Life At JRLO Side Kubota Spears Funabashi Tokyo Bay – Bernard Foley, Dane Coles & Liam Williams.
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